An air-conditioning apparatus provided with a switch for regulating the temperature of a passenger compartment or the temperature of a vehicle seat is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-9-115376, for example. A control unit of this air-conditioning apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B hereof.
A control unit 201 of a vehicle air-conditioning apparatus shown in FIG. 11A includes a printed circuit board 205 on which a number of mounted switches 202, light-emitting diodes 203 and an LCD panel are mounted, a flexible printed circuit board 207 on which chip LEDs 206 are mounted at locations opposite to the mounted switches 202, and switch knobs 209 having control panels 208. The control panels 208 are illuminated by the individual chip LEDs 206 to increase the visibility of the control panels 208.
The control unit 201 in the above related art is used for regulating the temperature of a passenger compartment. The temperature of a driver seat can also be regulated by a control unit similar to the control unit 201. For example, a control unit similar to the control unit 201 is provided at an instrument panel of the vehicle, heating or cooling of a driver seat is selected via a switch knob 209, a rotary knob 211 (including a rotary volume 212 on a printed circuit board 205) is turned right to select warm air and also to set the temperature, or is turned left to select cool air and also to set the temperature.
The above control unit 201, however, needs to be provided with the switch knobs 209, the rotary knob 211 and the LCD panel 204, and the printed circuit board 205 connected thereto. The control unit 201 thus becomes large, resulting in a low degree of freedom in layout.
Therefore, there is demand for a temperature regulation control unit for use in a vehicle, having layout freedom without impairing visibility and operability.